Yoshida delivers in the clutch as Japan outlast Belarus

RIO DE JANEIRO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Japan edged out Belarus, 77-73, in the last game of Day 1 at the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament.

In the most closely contested game of the day, it all came down to the final minute, when the 2015 FIBA Asia Women's champions kept their cool and made timely plays at both ends of the floor.

Turning Point: The final minute packed a lot of intense action. With Japan having seen a 69-65 edge with 2:58 left trimmed to 69-68, it was timely play when Asami Yoshida stole a bad pass by Yelena Leuchanka and turned it into a breakaway lay-up for a bit of breathing room at 73-70 and 53 seconds remaining. Belarus guard Lindsay Harding scored to get her team within 71-70 before Ramu Tokashiki answered right back for 73-70. Belarus called timeout and Tatiana Troina missed a three-pointer on the ensuing play. Yoshida grabbed the rebound and hit both free-throws after being fouled to extend the lead to 75-70. Troina made amends for her earlier miss by connecting from well beyond the three-point line to cut the deficit to two with 14 seconds. Belarus again fouled Yoshida who knocked down two more foul shots and it was enough to seal the deal. 

Stats Don't Lie: The close nature of this contest is best symbolised by the numbers that follow - 20 as in the number of lead changes and 8 as in the number of times the game was tied. The biggest lead of the game belonged to Belarus, who were up 53-46 early in the third period. Impressively, Japan won despite being out-rebounded 44-26. Their good ball movement was also reflected in the 23 assists (on 29 made field goals).

Game Hero: It's hard to give it to anyone other than Yoshida given how she buried those crucial free-throws. Japan's captain only finished with 8 points but came very close to a triple double, grabbing 9 rebounds and handing out 8 assists. She also had 4 steals.  

The Bottom Line: Belarus have had their problems against Asian teams in recent years and the trend continued. Most recently they lost to Korea and China respectively in the Group Phase and Quarter-Finals at the 2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT). They did edge out the Koreans in the 5th-Place Game to book their place in Rio. There is little time to dwell over this defeat though as they take on France on Sunday night. Japan meanwhile can savour the victory until they face Brazil on Monday.  

FIBA